Latest / Skin Anarchy / Anna Teal, CEO of Aromatherapy Associates

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Anna Teal, CEO of Aromatherapy Associates · Skin Anarchy

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, so before the episode starts, I wanted to pop in and just mention that Aromatherapy Associates has been super nice and given all of our listeners a special discount code.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now if you like this episode and you love everything that we've talked about, which I'm pretty sure you will, go to aromatherapyassociates.com forward slash USA and use the code anarchy15, all one word.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's anarchy15 at checkout, and it will give you 15% off your order.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now, obviously, some things are exempt from this, like gift cards, but it pretty much applies to almost everything.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: So check it out, and I hope you love the episode coming up.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Hi guys, welcome back to Skincare Anarchy.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: This is Echtta and I have such a wonderful guest for you guys today.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: I absolutely love this brand.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: I love every product that they've come out with.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it has actually really helped me with my own self-healing and just, you know, relaxing at the end of the day.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: So without me ranting too much, I want to introduce you guys to Anna Teal, who is the global CEO for Aromatherapy Associates and the Refinery.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: So welcome to the show, Anna.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so, so humbled and honored that you have time for this.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, thank you so much for having me.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: It is such a pleasure and an honor to be invited to come and speak with you today.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, the honor is truly mine.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Trust me.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: I love your products.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I want to get started by actually talking about you and your journey and your background in um, you know, just perfumery and just the whole, you know, the whole industry really.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: And what got you into this?
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: Oh gosh.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I've been in the beauty and wellness industry um for 23 years now, so straight out of school.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I from a teenager um loved experimenting with makeup and with skincare.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: And my my mum was uh was an Avon lady, and so I grew up um from quite a young age, surrounded by different lotions and potions, and I would I'd have her lie down on the settee and I'd be doing her her makeup for her and did all of my work experience in hairdressers and really desperately wanted to get involved in the industry somehow.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I was really fortunate enough to join um the Health and Beauty retailer Boots, um, which is one of the leading retailers here in the UK, and actually at the time in the 1990s, was one of the leading uh retailers um in the world, I would say, in terms of beauty products and how it was launching brands and um really offering that range of assortment.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I joined them on a scheme, a training scheme, um, which taught me um how to develop product, how to merchandise, how to retail product.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so I spent 12 years with um at the Boots Head Office at some point or another, um working on nearly every single part of their beauty assortment and through that time um worked on developing brands, working, uh also worked with other entrepreneurs to help them create brands of their own.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I had the huge privilege of working with Marcia Kilgore on soap and glory for a period of time.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: That was in its early stages, worked with other fashion brands to reimagine their creative vision to create a different range of products in toiletries for people to be able to experiment and buy.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then equally with other really large-scale companies like the L'Oreals of this world to really help them retail their products in a boots environment.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: And so I felt from a very early age, not only did I have the passion for the category in the sector, but also had some excellent pedigree and training by having the wonderful privilege of working in a leading retailing environment that really valued product creation and brand creation, but marrying that with working with other incredible people, creative people, entrepreneurs to build brands.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so that then very quickly moved into um away from retailing and into brand creation, and then spent a few years um developing brands with founders, um, helping them find routes for growth, um, had a period of time working for the War Greens Boots Alliance group as it became to help them with their acquisition strategy and um look at how to develop a portfolio of brands, was fortunate enough to lead the project that led to the acquisition of the Lizzo Skincare beauty brand from the Avon Company and started to look at how do you really help beauty brands and wellness brands flourish and grow.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when I came across um Aromatherapy Associates because that has been an independent company within Walgreens Boots Alliance for a number of years.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I was asked to be a strategic advisor to their board um of several years ago, and so had met Geraldine, the founder, an incredible human being, one of the most phenomenal women in the industry that I think I will have ever come across.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't think I've ever heard as many people talk with as much heart as they have about Geraldine in terms of the profound impact that she had on their lives.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so, really in an early stage, sensed the magic of this brand and also the potency and impact that these essential oil blends could have.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so when my predecessor decided to uh to do something different, I became the natural choice because I was so already heavily involved in advising the board on what they might want to do.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um I was offered the position in 2019.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: I just jumped at the chance because it felt like being given the most wonderful gift of a brand that has such an excellent reputation with so much scope for growth, and at the heart of it, which is always the most important thing, a product that really works and in this instance really works at making people feel better and making people.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: So no, I mean, that's honestly for me, like I think that's one of the biggest um, you know, selling points for me as a consumer about aromatherapy associates and your products because you know, I know as like, you know, someone who's very busy during my day, and you know, I just when you are done with your day, whatever you're doing for your self-care ritual has to be meaningful.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: It has to be impactful.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, the scents and the fragrances are just so beautifully crafted that it always leaves me in this very like zen like place.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like it just, it really makes me feel like what I'm doing and the time I'm spending is is you know, it's well spent.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to dive into that more and how you know these fragrances and these essential oils and um were crafted and like what the real vision was behind um, you know, all of the all of the you know stuff that went behind that.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Geraldine, um Geraldine the founder, started the brand 35 years ago.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: She had trained um under some of the most uh prominent um aromatherapists in in the modern era and also really profoundly um believed in the the therapeutic benefits of essential oil blends.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so started in her um in London around a kitchen table, having learned her craft, creating these essential oil blends for people like you and I, or for also for high net worth people that were coming to her with um their concerns.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um and this is in a time where people mental health wasn't really spoken about in the same way that it is today.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um it was a very different era, and people would be coming to her saying, I can't sleep, I'm really anxious, I'm lacking in energy.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: Can you create me a natural alternative to really help me um feel better about myself?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so from a very early stage, the blends that Geraldine and now that we continue to create today aren't predominantly based on fragrance, it's based on the therapeutic benefit of um of those essential oils.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: And every single essential oil blend comes from a human story that there was a need for that.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so, for example, the deep relaxed blend, it's our most iconic blend, our most popular, was created by Geraldine to treat her chronic insomnia.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: She was on medication, couldn't bear the thought of living um the rest of her life having to take tablets to help her go to sleep.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so she created this essential blend.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: And because it was grounded in the need to um to help treat her insomnia, there are different essential oils in there.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: So, for example, typically people will think of lavender, which is fabulous for relaxing, but it won't really help you get to sleep.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so she put much heavier essential oils in there, like vetivare, which are natural sedatives.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so the scent of deep relax is actually quite a heavy um essential oil blend scent because it's deliberately created with trying to get you to sleep.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: And we jokingly refer it in the office is the equivalent of having a bottle of wine at night because it will knock you out.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so um every single essential oil that's been selected is um selected for that human need purpose to create that perfect balance.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: We choose the highest grade of um ingredient that you can that you can find because you have different crop qualities, um, and we put them into our products at a much higher concentration level.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so the the bath and shower treatment oils that we have, it's up to 30% concentration of essential oils.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: So they're very potent as well as very powerful as an essential oil um blend.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and you know, that's it's so interesting to me that you know um you're talking about how everything is derived from a need that people had.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because I, you know, for me from a medical standpoint, I've always been, although I was trained as you know, an allopathic physician, I've always believed that there is so much value in, you know, alternative therapies and just things that can, you know, add on to just our daily lives and help us rather than ingesting pills or you know, like a lot of the pharmacopical therapies we have out are not exactly the most ideal, you know, for our bodies.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, the fact that you know, you're you described this in the stories that you're you know referring to, for me that's that's a very important point to touch on.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, right now we live in a world where everybody wants like an instant fix.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately, a lot of people might resort to, for example, with sleep, right?
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: Which we're talking about sleep, melatonin.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, melatonin, I can tell you, it does not work after maybe you know, you you grow to be resistant to it.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: So people will keep taking it and taking it, and they'll keep increasing their dose.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: But it's like, you know, if they just real people need to realize like there are other options and there are other ways to calm yourself and to calm your body.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I really love that you touched on that and you talked about the sleep aspect because I think that's a that's a very big concern for a lot of people.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think it's a really good point that you raise because I think we've definitely seen an increase in people searching more online for natural remedies.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not to say that you know one should replace the the other, um, but I definitely feel um and believe that having a set of natural alternative remedies is is not anything new because if you think back, you know, several thousands of years, you know, the natural remedies were the remedies that was nature's medical toolkit.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it we're not creating anything new, we're actually just modernizing and bringing to life what um our ancestors were using to help them with their with their concerns.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: And what I would hope is that the pendulum swing will really start to rebalance out because I think, particularly through the pandemic, people definitely have been looking to explore more natural alternatives.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I know that I've now incorporated these oils into my um daily and weekly regimen.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: Revive morning is one of my absolute favourite blends.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: It speaks to me because as soon as I'm up and out of bed, I have a very full day, as I'm sure you do.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I find that just using that every day um becomes just a really wonderful positive affirmation.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: It makes me feel good, it's a really energizing blend.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it just and over time I've built a real emotional connection with that.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: That when I use it, I feel readier to, if that's a real word, uh, to face to face the day.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I think people will be looking for that more and more, um, as they're looking for different ways to balance an incredibly hectic or um more anxious way of living their lives.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure you will have seen this as well.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think having forcing people to slow down through the pandemic has definitely created a moment for reflection on how people are living their lives.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: And we know that um people are definitely spending more time at home.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: The role of the home has changed dramatically.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, through the peak of lockdown, it was people's boardrooms, classrooms, an area of respite, um, healing.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the reasons why we've just launched our latest innovation, our home atomizer with home sense is that we know that you can use essential oil blends and scents to really help create different zones in your home, whether it's to help create mental focus or a more relaxing state for people to be in.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I definitely feel that over this last year, also in particular, people are definitely, like you said, looking for more natural solutions to integrate into their daily regimes.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I think I'm a huge, huge supporter of that philosophy.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I was raised in, you know, an Indian household, a Hindu household.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that, you know, in Indian culture, there's, you know, there's so many texts, ancient texts, you know, people talk about, for example, the Vedas and the Upanishads and stuff, and they talk about them in a religious way.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: But in reality, what they were were libraries of information that yogis had put together that were like categorizations of different plants and herbs that were used for as natural remedies.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: And now we refer to that as like Ayurveda, right?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: But like a part of that was is also, um, if you actually read those texts, there's a lot about sense in there as well.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so when you everything that you're saying for me is just so organically like it makes sense because it's been around, you know, this idea of using the using nature and using our senses to just in a way, not heal ourselves, but at least facilitate the process is a very old concept.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it's something that it should absolutely be amplified.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I think, you know, aromatherapy associates, I mean, that's what I think of with your brand.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think you guys are just, you know, you're there to really amplify this idea that, you know, there are very there's so many different ways that we can approach relaxation and self-care.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it's very important to put these options out there for people to to at least try, you know, before you you before you jump the gun and go and say, well, I have incurable insomnia, you know what I mean?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna go see 15 sleep therapists and you know, specialists and come to no, you know, no solution.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I I really, really love that.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: I love everything that you've been talking about.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, thank you.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I think um it's you know, we know that our sense of smell is so intrinsically linked to our memory.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that, for example, if you've walked past somebody in the street, maybe you've caught um some of their aftershave or their perfume as you've walked past them, that can quite often um transport you to another person to remind you of them because that's the scent that they used to wear, and that may conjure up different um uh different memories, whether that's positive or negative.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: And that's because our sense of smell and our olfactory system is really it's our closest sense of smell to our to our brain and the part of our brain and the limbic system that um that creates those memories.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so our sense of smell and our memory bank are very closely connected.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's one of our primitive senses and one of the first that gets developed when we're when we're in the womb.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you can use scent to create positive um uh positive memories, you can really use that to create positive reinforcement in your daily life.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I've been working with a neuroscientist, um, an MIT professor by the name of Dr.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Tara Swart, and she's been really validating a lot of this, and she's I was just gonna ask you that.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I would love to see like neuroimaging related to like you know aromatherapy.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: I yeah, please continue.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: But I was literally about to ask you about that.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: She's been such a big advocate of our, she's one of our, in fact, such a big advocate that she'd asked to be one of our brand ambassadors, which is a huge honor for us.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and she's been working very closely with us to really help bring to life the neuroscience uh behind it.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: And she's written um a number of books around um how you can basically rewire your brain um to change your outlook, and a lot of that can be connected to um your sense of smell.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so, for example, the when at the very beginning of this conversation, you were talking about um the ritual um and how it's really helped you.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: If you had insomnia, for example, and you had got yourself into a really straightforward uh regime, which was you'll um take your makeup off, um, uh you'll do a really nice facial cleanse, you'll um take some of our deep relax, put it into the palms of your hand, warm your palms of your hand up, do some really nice, beautiful deep inhalations with that oil in your hand, that will automatically start to trigger the art of having the deep inhalations and that scent, a message to your brain that is going to start to feel relaxing.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Equally, if you don't have one of our candles on or the atomizer with the deep relaxed blend in your room, you will start to associate that scent with sleep.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: And the more often you build that ritual that connects that scent with that action, the stronger that connection will be built in your brain.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: A little bit.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: I always use the analogy of if you've had a baby, when when my children were infants, we stuck to a very strict regimen of bath bottle bed.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: Because over time, then the minute that um our our babies went into the bath, you could automatically see that they were going, oh, this it we're in this part of the day now, it's time to start to get ready.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: To go to bed, and it's it's no different to that, really.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: And it's because our sense of smell is so closely um connected to um to memory and you start to create that positive reinforcement, and so you can apply that to so many different um different um situations, and so if you're going through exams, we have frankincense or a de stressed mind, which really helps calm racing mind.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're a student and you find that you're prone to anxiety or struggling to focus, dabbing a little bit of that on a tissue or um same inhalation technique before you're about to go into a period of concentration on an exam, again, would also create that positive reinforcement in your regime, which is why, to your point, I'm such a huge fan of creating these rituals and trying to incorporate natural methods first before you go to a medical solution because the brain is such a fantastic thing, and our senses are so powerful that I think if we gave ourselves the opportunity to try and rewire and reprogram our thought processes naturally, we'd probably find that we'd be reaching out for um medicines less frequently.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: I completely, completely agree.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that the points you're making are just so like it's truly a new frontier to think about when it comes to um, you know, not only like mental wellness and well-being, but also, you know, really looking into the neurology aspect of it, as you, you know, you touched upon earlier, because you know, I know I had read a few papers back when, like, for example, like, you know, for everyone listening, I'm somebody who I have um clinical anxiety.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: I've had it for many, many years.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, for me going through school and everything I've done, I've always struggled with that.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: And what I realized um, you know, at an early age was that, you know, even before I got into oils or anything, things like incense, like I would light incense in my home and it would help me when it came to like sitting down and doing my work and then also like being able to focus on what I was doing.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, when we think about from a neurology aspect, when you activate your sense of smell, it's one of the most um like stimulatory ways of like activating your brain in both hemispheres.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you if you go into the the literature, you'll see that the imaging studies show that.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then when you combine that with things like, you know, sound or like, for example, you know, I've made this point on my previous shows where I think there should be brands that work with like meditation apps, like for example, Calm or Headspace.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you're able to do this and you're, you know, you're using the oils and you're using something that's really um helping you with one sense to be able to activate another sense, you're going to then give your brain this like almost, you know, um the this immersed experience, right?
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not going to, it's gonna leave less uh space for it to wander and to, you know, be anxious and and go in the directions you don't want it to go into.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's absolutely brilliant, um, you know, that what you're doing.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I and I think if more and more people look into it, they'll realize that, you know, things that are pertaining to mental wellness and mental health, they're a lot more easier to manage than we realize.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we live in a world where big pharma runs the world and you know, patients come all the time and there's like, well, I need an anti-anxiety medication.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I have to explain to them, like, you know, do you do you understand that what's going to happen to you by taking this medication for years is a lot more detrimental than what you feel right now, you know?
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's like they are almost desperate for a solution.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, I wish people would just, you know what I mean, like do a little bit more homework, that there are other options, there are other things you can do.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, I really, really want to echo everything you said.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's it's absolutely on point.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, I want to actually, I want to talk a little bit more about your um the de-stress blends because you know what what are the real um hallmark, you know, ingredients or I guess um components of those fragrances?
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like can you go into the depth a little bit more about that?
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, so we've got two um essential oil um blends under the uh de-stress range.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: One is um de-stress muscle and the other is de-stress mind with both slightly different um properties and purposes.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: So de-stress muscle, interestingly, was uh created um by um by Geraldine um originally, believe it or not, for um elderly people.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: So she went to visit a um uh some elderly people in an old people's care home and was finding that they were um really struggling with muscular dystrophy because they weren't moving, and that and one of the side effects of that is um aches and pains.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so she created this blend um deliberately with active ingredients like black pepper, um, ginger, there's rosemary in there, um, there's um a little bit of lavender in there, um, a little bit of lemon, uh citronella oil in there, and so and basically balanced to really help boost the circulation, have quite a stimulating effect so that it could help with things like dystrophy and the aches and pains and get the circulation going um to really help boost um uh I guess things like muscle repair, uh how healing.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever you bring blood to an organ, you're you're you know promoting healing, yeah, absolutely.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: And um easing tension.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: And interestingly, what we're finding in today's world is that clearly that's now transcended into people using it when they're um taking part in sporting activities because really the same aches and pains are are coming to life in those capacities.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: And equally, if you are like myself, you're at a desk quite a lot of the day.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: I have quite a lot of muscle tension around my shoulders, it's all the same thing, it's basically tension in the body that needs to find a way of being released, and so that's the story behind that.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's an absolutely wonderful blend, it's one of my favorites.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: We have a fabulous product, the um a de-stress muscle gel, really light formula, which you can um apply to the body instantly drying, um, but is incredibly soothing for muscular aches and pains.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's de-stress muscle.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: De-stress mind um is is slightly different.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: It has things like rosemary again in there, it's got um bitter orange in there, um, it's got frankincense in there, which we know is very good for focusing the mind.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: And um, this has been created to really help you feel centered, um, it clears the mind, it calms the mind.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you are in a state of anxiety or you're feeling overwhelmed, you can be quite prone to having what's called a racing mind.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: And this blend was deliberately created to really help calm and focus, which is why um I use it as an example earlier to say if you are um if if you're a student, for example, or if you are about to do a big presentation, and and I used to suffer from incredible anxiety if I was about to go and do a big presentation in front of a large audience.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: This blend is perfect for that because it will calm the mind, it will still the mind, it will help you um feel more centered and focused.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's that's that's the little bit about that blend.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: And that's I love that we have it as a rollerball, we have it in a rollerball format, um, as as well as the bath the bath range, which means that you can have it on the go with with you as well.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: Anna, I feel like you need to give a seminar at a medical school.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm genuinely telling you.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I feel like on day one of like, you know, white coat ceremony, like you need to be there because like medical students have like the highest rate of like suicide and like you know, all these crazy things because of the amount of stress.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, I just wish people like were more outspoken about this.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that you're telling us because you know, there's just there's seriously a huge gap, I feel like, in the understanding and and this, you know, understanding that there are options there and you, you know what I mean?
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like you can you can play around and and see what works for you.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's anyway, so I'm not gonna rant about that, but I really think you know, like a lot of medical schools would benefit from you telling them about um this because it's it's very, very crucial to you know lower our stress levels and um really keep them in check.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I love that.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it comes for me in in in two parts.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_01: One is um is awareness, so knowing to check yourself.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so just checking in yourself in terms of how you're feeling, because sometimes you're in a heightened state of anxiety without realizing you're in a heightened state of anxiety because that manifests itself in very different ways.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you can feel more angry or um you're not sleeping as well, but you can't quite pinpoint why.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: So giving yourself the time to do that um is one aspect and feeling that you can talk about it, which is why it is so great that at least the mental health conversation is becoming um more normalized for people to be speaking about um these things.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: And the second, the thing that you've just mentioned, which is people being more aware of what can be in that toolkit and that it doesn't always have tablets.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it can be um a meditation app, it can be um going for a walk in nature, which I personally am a huge advocate of, and in particular forest therapy or green therapy, however you want to describe it, um or having essential oil blends so that you can trigger different senses um in your body to help you um recalibrate yourself.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so I I completely agree, but it I think it's in two parts.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that I started to practice, and it's I think it actually started from actually quite a childish thing.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you do this, and without sounding too odd, when I was younger and I used to wake up, I used to try and at least spend another few minutes um in bed, and I used to call it finishing my dreams off.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: I had to finish my dream and I had to finish my dream in a way I wanted it to end because that's so cool.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I and and I read somewhere years later that it's actually quite a good mental health technique because if you finish off or you start your day in a in with that positive frame of mind, then it sets the tone.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so now what I do um uh most days, I mean, it's it's you always get the odd day where you you don't get chance to do everything according to plan, is I will mentally go through the day that I'm about to have, and I will try and really consider and advance are there periods of that day that are going to be triggering to me, whether that's triggering because it's going to give me a heightened sense of anxiety, or there'll be a situation which I don't think's gonna go my way, um, and could present me in a in a in a way that I don't want to be to be presented, particularly given that I'm a leader of a business.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I run through my day and I consciously try to practice how am I going to cope in those situations, and I find it incredibly empowering and centering to do that, and the day becomes the day because the day nothing ever goes according to plan.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_01: But I think in that moment, because I'm checking in on myself, it really helps me feel more empowered and in tune with um how I will need to be over the course of that day, and so that's just in the spirit of sharing, a technique that I have found it takes me two or three minutes, it has quite a profound impact on my mental state of mind, it has a profound impact on how ready I feel to face the day because I've run through it already.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_01: I've quite walked through um how I, you know, situations that I think may manifest and almost coach myself.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: And that plus just a few simple techniques with some natural solutions is you know, as best as reasonably possible.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I feel like I'm equipping myself as best as I can.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: Plus, I'm fortunate just enough to have two dogs at home and and do have to then spend quite a lot of time outside going for a walk, which as I've said, I'm a huge champion of because it gets you breathing fresh air.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I definitely think it's the consciousness as well as the toolkit that people equip themselves with.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: I think that, yeah, and and the point you made is actually very um, it's very, very like true because I know that, you know, a lot of prominent figures in history, you know, they if you if you read a little bit more about them and you read um their life stories and their biographies, you you know, for example, um, I can talk about Gandhi, you know, there was a there there was a quote that I read in the book, and um it said that every morning he would wake up and he would sit for 15 minutes and sit in nature, like what you're talking about, which is just breathe fresh air, sit down, let your mind actually start up for the day.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, instead of like most of us, we rush out of bed, we get out of bed, we're like ready to go, we're getting our coffee, we're getting all this stuff ready.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_00: But you can't do that.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a car, right?
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's like you want to warm up your car in the winter before you take it out, because eventually you're going to wear it down to the point where it's not going to work anymore, and our minds are the same way.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that what you're saying is extremely valuable.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I think, you know, if we take that extra two to three minutes, especially in the mornings, to just be like, okay, you know, I'm conscious, I'm awake.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how do I feel?
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, just become present.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_00: Then that feeling of presence will stay with you through your day.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, and especially when I tying back to what you said about, you know, the olfactory senses and how it's related to memory, eventually this will become an automatic habit that you start doing throughout your day.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I think there's so much value in everything that you've explained and shared with us.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I and I want to thank you so much.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: This has been such a lovely conversation.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_00: I hope everyone listening, I hope you've gained a lot of uh insights and knowledge and wisdom from Anna.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: This is um a beautiful line.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: I urge everybody out there to go check it out.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_00: Go to Aromatherapy Associates, their website, um, check out all the products, they're wonderful.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: And Anna, thank you so much for your time and your willingness to talk about this.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a pleasure.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, so I hope you love that episode.
• 38:50
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• 38:55
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• 39:33
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• 39:55
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